| We evaluated the effects of fire on the vegetative phenological behavior (crown foliage cover, sprouting, mature and young leaves) of woody species at two sites in the Brazilian savanna, one of which had been accidentally burned. We used generalized additive mixed models to test the hypothesis that: 1) fire damages total foliage cover, thus leading to changes in vegetative phenological patterns. As this hypothesis was corroborated, we also tested whether 2) the damage caused by fire to the total crown foliage cover and mature leaves is greater in evergreen than in deciduous species, and 3) the negative effects of fire on vegetative phenology persist after the first fire-free year. The first two hypotheses were corroborated, but the third was not. Fire... |
